More than a month ago I heard from a friend in Baghdad that pretty much everyone involved in the CPA knew Paul Bremer couldn’t wait to get the hell out of Iraq. And such news certainly didn’t come as much of a surprise considering the frustrations, violence and setbacks that Bremer faced during a difficult tenure in a tough and too-often thankless job.

So today had to be bittersweet for Bremer. There was no great fanfare when the U.S. handed over power. President Bush proclaimed that “We kept our word.” True. But Bremer and those working for him are well aware that, at least in relation to the handover, that word was reduced to something of whisper.

Just a few hours after the handover, Paul Bremer did what he’s probably been wanting to do for months. He boarded a plane and left Iraq. I’m sure there are plenty of others who would’ve loved to be on that plane.

Davenetics by Dave Pell

Welcome to Dave Pell's Davenetics, the Official Blog of the Next Five Minutes. Dave is an old school blogger. It all started with Davenetics, but then grew into a suite of blogs and brands including Electablog (politics) and NextDraft (newsletter). These days, Dave almost all of his blogging at Tweetage Wasteland, a look at the realtime web that is syndicated by Forbes, NPR, Gizmodo and others. Dave is also the founder of Rollyo and Addictomatic, an investor/adviser for several start-ups, and the husband of Gina Pell.